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I have an Ubuntu VM in an instance of VMware ESXi 6.7.0. I am using Chrome to access the VM console in the HTML interface of VMware ESXi. (I do not have SSH access to the VM.)

I would like to copy/paste from my Windows PC to the VM console window. I found an article describing how to enable copy/paste, so I followed the steps.

As you can see, I have VMware Tools installed on the VM: enter image description here

I also added the isolation.tools.copy.disable, isolation.tools.paste.disable, and isolation.tools.setGUIOptions.enable configuration parameters to the Advanced settings of the VM: enter image description here

After I powered on the VM and copied some text in Windows, I do not have the option to paste in the VM console window: enter image description here

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    You need to use the VMRC to connect to the VM console, not the browser console. Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 1:11
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    I guess there's no way to copy/paste in the browser console? Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 1:38
  • What does the article say? Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 2:26
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    It makes no mention of whether or not it is possible to copy/paste in the browser console. Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 3:49
  • Yes, that's my point. You need to use the VMRC. Commented Oct 7, 2020 at 15:44

2 Answers 2

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The HTML console is not meant for getting any real work done, it is more suited for checking if a VM has stalled, or is stuck in some reboot loop.

For functionality like copy and paste to work, you need to use either the VMware Remote Console (VMRC) or VMware Workstation Pro, which includes VMRC functionality.

You still need to set the following 3 options:

isolation.tools.copy.disable = FALSE isolation.tools.paste.disable = FALSE isolation.tools.setGUIOptions.enable = TRUE
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  • I've installed VMRC but still don't have copy & paste capabilities. Are the isolation.tools config parameters shown in the question also a requirement on top of using the VMRC? Commented Oct 12, 2023 at 15:17
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    Setting the (3) isolation.tools config options was indeed needed, on top of using VMRC console for Esxi 7.0 to enable copy/paste function. It is a bit dodgy/slow to register the operations, but finally works! Commented Oct 31, 2023 at 17:07
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If you're running a UNIX-based OS or a derivative(e.g. Linux), you can get xdotool to do it for you like so:

sleep 5; xdotool type --window 90177794 'password'; xdotool key Return

use 'xdotool search' to get the window ID. Enter the command, hit Return and switch to the vmware console window so that it's active. Then xdotool pastes for you.

man xdotool is your friend :)

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